City Council budget session on Channel 96.State aid for fiscally stressed municipalities was announced today. Some may recall that Plainfield sought such aid for SFY 2010 and only got $250,000, with stringent conditions attached.
That aid award was not announced until March 18, for the fiscal year ending June 30. The lateness of past announcements was part of the reason why some council members felt it was not worth holding up the budget process, especially for what turned out to be a minimal amount of help.
Plainfield was not on the list of applicants for the SFY 2011 budget year. Look here for the complete list of applicants and their awards (some got nothing). It is interesting that the total amount of aid for fiscal year municipalities was nearly $140 million, compared to less than $14 million for SFY 2010. Camden alone got $69 million.
While this is a much bigger carrot than last year, the stick is also bigger. Look here for the rationale for a Memorandum of Understanding. Recipients will get 75 percent of the funding initially, but will forfeit the remaining 25 percent if terms of the agreement are not followed.
This fiscal tough love from the state is setting an example for all municipalities. Part of the program is for municipalities to pass a local pay-to-play ordinance and also to describe how they are going to eliminate their reliance on such aid.
New Jersey's state motto is "Liberty and Prosperity," but in these hard times Gov. Chris Christie seems to be taking a cue from the old folk saying, "Every tub must sit on its own bottom."
--Bernice
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